Improvement in knitting-machines



. @site Sterns IV. CLAY, OF NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND.-

lMPRCVEMENT IN KNITTING-MACHHN ES.

Speeilieation forming part of Letters Patent N0. 410,993, dated December22, 1863.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, W. WV. CLAY, ofNottingham, in the county of Nottingham, Kingdom of Great Britain andIreland, but now residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain Improvements in Knitting- Machines 5 and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon.

My invention relates to certain improvements in what are known ascircular-knitting machines7 my said improvements, which are fullydescribed hereinafter, having been designed with the view of dispensingwith the self-acting needles generally used in conne-c- Vtion withmachines of this class, and in place of these needles substituting thecommon hooked or bearded needles,l thereby enabling me to produce a muchfiner fabric than can be knitted in circular machines with self-actingneedles.

In order to enable others skilled in this class of machinery to make anduse my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction andoperation.

On reference to the accompanying' drawings, which form a part of thisspecitication, Figure l is avertical section of my improvedcircular-knitting machine; Fig. 2, a view of the needle-guides andneedles with the stationary cams for operating the latter. Figs. 3, 4,and 5 are views drawn to an enlarged scale of the upper ends of theneedles, and the spring-pressers in dit'terentpositions, Fig. G, aperspective view ot' the upper ends ofthe needles; Fig. 7, amodification of my im- ]roved knitting-maehine; Fig 8, a sectional planon the line l 2, Fig. l; and Fig. 9, a pian view of part ot' themachine, showing a modiiied presser-wheel.

Similar letters refr-r to si milar parts throughout the several views.

Before I proceed to describe my invention, it would be well to remarkthat in most of the circular-knitting machines hitherto used the needleshave been of the class generally termed self-acting-that is, needlesprovided at the ends with tumblers or pawlsalthough many attempts havebeen made to introduce the ordinary bearded or hooked needles intocircular-knitting machines, with the view of producing a much finerfabric than can be knitted with. self-acting needles.

The great difficulty hitherto in the way ot making a circular machinewith bearded or hooked needles has been the constant breakage of thelatter-a difticulty which I have succeeded in overcoming by theinvention which I will now proceed to describe.

A, Fig. 1, is a hollow vertical cylinder, arranged to turn on astationary pin, B, attached to a frame, C, which, with the head a ofthepin, serves to maintain the cylinder in its proper vertical position,the cylinder being` provided with or forming a part of the bevelwheel D,gearing into a driving-wheel, which it has not been deemed necessary toexhibit in the drawings. In the cylinderA are cut vertical groovesthroughout its entire diameter, each groove being arranged for thereception of one ofthe needle-bars E, and each bar being provided at theupper end with a bearded or hooked needle, F, of the form best observedin Fig. 3, and at the lower end with a projection, c, which will beespecially alluded to hereinafter. At the top ofthe cylinder A is atiange,], beveled on the outside, as shown in the drawings, the tlangemeeting the cylinder andbeing in contact with the same loetween thepoints .r At this point of junction of the cylinder to the tiangej'are aseries of openings, w, which may be considered a continuation of thegrooves above alluded to as being ont in the cylinder, and through eachof these openings passes the upper end of one of the needles F. To theside ot the liangej" ofthe cylinder are secured a series of springs, G,one spring being directly opposite to and arranged to bear against thebeard of one ot' the needles, as best observed in the enlarged view,Fig. 4, where the torxn ot' the spring, as well as that otl the needle,is distinctly shown.

H is a plate forming the segment'y of a hollow cylinder concentric withthe cylinder A, this plate being secured to any convenient part of theframe of the machine. To the inside of this segmental plate are securedtwo blocks, which are of the form represented by red lines, Fig. 2, andwhich I term the stationary cams, theirobject being to operate theneedles in the manner which may be described as follows:

The view Fig. 2 represents an exterior view ofa portion of the cylinderwith its needles,`

the vertical line y representing the center of rotation. As the cylinderrevolvesin the drection of the arrow, Fig. 2, the projections e ot' someof the needles will be in the act of gradually ascending the inclinededge m of the stationary cam J, while the projections or others aregradually descending as they bear against the curved edge n of thestationary cam I. It will be evident, therefore, that the upper ends ofthe needles as they pass a given point in each revolution of thecylinder must take the course indicated by the line q.

K is a presser-roller hung to a pin on the stationary frame of themachine, and arranged to bear against the springs G, in the manner andfor the purpose which will be rendered apparent hereinafter.

L is an adjustable bar projecting from the frame-work toward the needlesand grooved at the end, so as to guide the thread to its properposition, as seen in Figs. 3, 4,- 5, and 6, by reference to which viewsI will now proceed to describe the manner in which the loops of theknitted fabric are formed.

In Fig. 3 the needle F has reached thelimit of its upward movement, thebeard t being freefrom the influence of the spring G, and the latterfrom the influence of the roller K, and the previously-formed loopsurrounding the needle and resting on the upper edge of the cylinder A,while the feedthread w', shown in blue, is directed by the guide L toits proper position. As the needle descends, the thread w takes itsplace between the stem and beard of the needle, at the same time thebeard comes in contact with the spring G, and the latter, being acted onby the roller K, causes the sp1-in g to press the beard against the stemof the needle, (see Fig. 4,) so that as the latter continues to descendboth needle and beard pass through the previously-formed loop," which ispermitted to escape after having become interlocked with the thread w',as seen in Fig. 5,. Every needle in succession has the above-describedmovement, and performs the same duty, so that when one complete revolution of the cylinder has been made a new row of loops has been addedto the fabric. It will be understood, however, that several stationarycams vmay be arranged at given points throughout the diameter of thecylinder, the number of feed-threads and presser-wheels corresponding tothe number of cams, so that the above-described movements of the needlesmay be going on at the same time at different points, the number ofwhich will depend upon the diameter of the cylinder A. As the fabric isformed, it passes downward in the first instance from the upper edge ofthe cylinder A, under a ring, M, and upward as usual in ordinarycircular-knitting machines 5 or the machine may be arranged in themanner shown in Fig. 7 on reference to which it will be seen that thecylinder, instead of revolving on a stationary pin, turns in a frame, X,so that the fabric can pass downward through the cylinder, below whichit may be collected by being coiled round a take-up roller. In this casethe ring M may be dispensed with.

By using a separate spring, G, for each needle, and by the peculiararrangement of this spring, I am enabled, through the intervention ofthe presserwheel, to close the'beards of the needles without puttingthem out of form or breaking them.

rlhe guide-bar L, with its grooved end, performs an importantduty-namely, that of holding the feed-thread in the proper position tobe caught by the beard of the descending needles, as bestobserved onreference to Fig. 6.

Owing to the successful employment, in the manner described, of commonhooked needles in circular-knitting machines, I am enabled to produce afiner fabric than can be made by self-acting needles.

A great variety of patterns may be produced by notching thepresser-wheel K at given intervals, so that the beards of some of theneedles will not be acted upon by the springs, and consequently some ofthe loops will be slipped.

This device, to which I lay no claim, will be readily understood bythose familiar with knitting-machines on referring to Fig. 9.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- Thesystem of reciprocating hooked needles F and the system of springs G, ortheir equivalents, applied to a revolving cylinder, in combination withthe presser-wheel K, or its equivalent, the whole being arranged forjoint action, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses. y

WILLIAM W. CLAY.

Witnesses HENRY HowsoN, J oHN WHITE.

